Flat mates won't pay utility bills - can I turn off supply?

DaftyDuck

I rent to students and, in general, they are a nice and reliable bunch. There are exceptions.

This is really a problem for your daughter, and not for you, in my opinion. If you step in, several things will happen. Firstly, if you are currently uninvolved, those in debt will view themselves as having a debt with someone in the same boat. Step in, and they'll instantly accept "daddy will pay and he's richer than we are".

Secondly, you'll get their backs up even more. Whatever the reason they are not paying, there is a reason. If it's bullying & meanness, involving yourself will exacerbate the situation. If they are broke because they've overspent, what can you do that your daughter can't? If they think your daughter owes them money for whatever other reason, then let them argue it out.


Thirdly, as others have said, it's part of your daughter's education to learn about the World, and stand on her own two feet. Advice from you? Yes, sure. Action and intervention? No, certainly not, in my opinion.

There may well be recourse (for your daughter) to take steps through her University. Students here can't graduate if they have debts against fellow members of the University. I don't think most go that far, but her tutor/advisor should be able to assist her in how to proceed.

You cannot cut off the gas. ChevalierTialys has pointed out some of the reasons, but there are severe safety implications. What if one of the gas appliances is on when it is turned off, and left on when it is turned back on again? It would be extremely reckless and dangerous to do this.Damage to a boiler/appliance is one thing. You could blow the house up. You could do worse than that. Extreme maybe, but just possible. Secondly, two others have paid. Switch it off and they could sue you, just as your daughter could sue the non-payers.

Switch off the electricity... and one of the paying students just happens to be altering her three-year thesis on her desktop as you wipe her data? She'd not be best pleased. It would encourage the others to go and play with the switches... not a route I'd want myself.

If the deposit is returned to your daughter, she can use that to reclaim her money. Might be what the non-payers are expecting, since they've spent everything else.

Your daughter could approach CAB (there's normally an office on campus), student advisory service, tutor, etc, or she can go straight down the legal route. Frankly, I think she (not you) should write to each of the non-paying students stating exactly what is owed, and when it should be paid, pointing out that the other occupants have paid and that, should they not pay, she will have no option but to contact the University and then pursue legal recourse to recover the money.

Or just suck it up and learn from her error.

ed_r

Turns out one of the non payers is the lead tenant.

Agree about point about inconveniencing the other tenants Anseld. And safety. When do I stop helping her? Same time she stops helping me I hope. Never.

Other answers: she is not the lead tenant, the girls are withholding payment because they believe they can. They have late night parties several times a week, regularly wake up the others with early hours music or vomiting. They use everyone's stuff but never clear up or take their turn to put out rubbish etc. All the usual stuff which students do to each other. Their stock phrase when anyone asks for usual consideration when living together is "suck it up". They have ruined the second year at uni, and the others can't wait to get away from them.

I think from all your helpful comments (thanks) we have decided to put the demands in writing, to get statements from those who have paid, write to the parents, and ultimately to issue a summons. In the meantime she needs to concentrate on exams, and not letting them get in the way of that.

System

You could always do something like leaving a partially completed N1 form lying about with the non-paying tenants names on it. Might give them enough of a jolt to pay up

poppasmurf_bewdley

ChevalierTialys wrote: »

Do not cut the gas off at the meter.

It is not as simple as turn off and then turn back on again. When you turn the meter off you cut supply. If they use an appliance and consume what gas is left on the house side of the meter, you are then left with pipe work that is empty. When the gas is turn back on it can cause problems with appliances, such as boilers, that may actually damage the appliance and be quite costly to replace.

When the system has been turned of at the meter, when it is re-instated all appliances should be purged by a gas safe registered (used to be corgi registered) plumber.

I have never read such utter drivel in my life.

When you turn on a gas appliance when the main supply has been cut off, the pressure within the pipe is lost so the flame in the device will just flutter and die.

If it didn't, hundreds of thousands of caravans in this country would be blowing up whenever their gas ran out in the middle of a holiday or weekend away.

DaftyDuck

You can't have read very much...

I'm not sure the gas turn-on need be done by a GSR-qualified bod, but it sure aint just a matter of turn-on-at-the-mains-and-forget-it.

A simple supply at a caravan is rather a different matter.

ChevalierTialys

DaftyDuck wrote: »

You can't have read very much...

I'm not sure the gas turn-on need be done by a GSR-qualified bod, but it sure aint just a matter of turn-on-at-the-mains-and-forget-it.

A simple supply at a caravan is rather a different matter.

Thank you.

I stand corrected on the full on GSR, this only need to be done in the case of water ingress.

Either way, you shouldn't just be turning the gas on and off at the meter as you see fit.

topdaddy_2

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

I have never read such utter drivel in my life.

When you turn on a gas appliance when the main supply has been cut off, the pressure within the pipe is lost so the flame in the device will just flutter and die.

If it didn't, hundreds of thousands of caravans in this country would be blowing up whenever their gas ran out in the middle of a holiday or weekend away.

The pipe wont have much in any way. If all appliances are turned off should be fine. After all what happens when a propety is left vacant or in the event of a gas leak.

Op, I can understand the frustration, been there done it, but communication is key. The tenants with outstanding fees do intend to pay at some point I presume?

ClareTeaches

ed_r wrote: »

I think from all your helpful comments (thanks) we have decided to put the demands in writing, to get statements from those who have paid, write to the parents, and ultimately to issue a summons. In the meantime she needs to concentrate on exams, and not letting them get in the way of that.

Sounds like you have a plan, but please, please get her to go to the uni about this - universities will step in if there are issues with their students outside of lectures. Back when I was a student, the uni would contact student let houses if they received complaints about noise/rubbish/parties, etc, threatening sanctions within the uni if they weren't resolved. (Will point out this never happened to me, but I knew others it did happen to! 😊 ). As another poster has said, some unis won't let them graduate if they owe money to other students.

Why not approach the uni? The worst that can happen is they do nothing, but they might be a huge help, and one you don't have to pay for, unlike a solicitor/small claims Court.

Good luck to her - I really hope this is resolved quickly. Has she considered how she's going to set up bills, etc in future? Even if she's living with friends she thinks she can trust, she needs to protect herself and ensure she's in a position where she has a more equal share of outgoings and has some leverage to withhold payments if she's not paid, rather than taking on such a high risk.

pimento

Has your daughter paid her last month's rent? If not, withold it then the landlord will take it out of the deposit he returns to the lead tenant.

This happened to my son when one of the four guys he lived with didn't pay his last month's rent.

dimbo61

As a Landlord of a six bedroom student property I would go completely mad if a tenant or parent were to cut off the gas or electric.
If any tenant did not pay the last months rent I would withhold all the deposit until it is paid.
Cutting electric means no alarm, no security lights, no internet for doing work, no lights, no heating, so only cold water, fridge/freezer defrosting. Need I say more !
Same with the gas I would have British Gas out thinking there was a problem with the supply ! Then a gas safe engineer would need to check the whole house, boiler, gas hob, any gas fires.
Have you not seen the damage a gas explosion can do ?
Rent is rent and is paid to the Landlord for providing a safe, well maintained property. Deposit is taken and protected in the DPS to cover for damage to the property. Not for the lead tenant to keep some because X and Y owe money for bills.
We now offer All-Inclusive with a cap on gas and electricity set very high so very little chance of going over.
My tenants Love this as they are not fighting over the costs of Gas/Electric/Water etc
I also return a share of the deposit to each student and not the lead tenant.